Easiest and Cheapest Farm Shelters
Fencing and out buildings to hold your animals can be a pretty costly manner. I’m here to tell you it does not have to be so expensive when it comes to shelters for your livestock. Let’s start with buildings, when it comes to having a shelter you know your animals can be safe from you have to get all the basics down. Good insulation for winter, good ventilation for summer and being able to keep out predators are your main concerns. Now, when first starting out in homesteading there are things that need to be built up, more than likely you are not going to be a millionaire starting a farm so we need to think of ways to build without it costing an arm and a leg. Here are some ways to save on out buildings:
1. OLD GRANERIES- I live in the prairies where grain farming is in the multitudes, but in order to keep up with these large farms, they are now switching to more metal instead of wood in order to keep the grain at a better temperature and dryness. That being said there is always tons of older farms that have the old style wood granaries around, most get so neglected in their unused state they sit there to rot, but if you can find one still standing these are great for chicken coops, or any other kind of out buildings you may need. They have all the bones to them for you to add onto or to create your own creations out of. Now I know people just starting out, it is hard to get all the things we need; on our farm we hauled grain and water by pail, we used wheel barrels and anything we could find or invent to move things from one end to the other. When it comes to loading, you may not be at that point on your homesteading journey to have a skid steer or tractor, or even a long haul trailer to get such a building from point a to point b, don’t panic! There are ways, first off the farmer selling this to you most likely has a tractor at least, second you can rent dollys from farm places such as UFA, as long as you have jacks you can lift a building yourself have the dolly hooked to the back of your vehicle and move it to your farm set up. You can also rent heavy equipment such as a flatbed to travel the building. There are many things you can rent by the way, this may be helpful for those hard jobs you may not be able to do by hand. These granaries are great and can be insulated how you like them.
OIL HOUSES – These tiny huts were used to keep oil or gas wells dry and heated so they would not freeze in our cold climates. These are what we have used especially in summer as a sturdy house that can be for all kinds of animals. I put my chickens in one and laying ducks in another. We made vents in them and they are completely safe from predators. The rain stays off the birds and they know they are safe at night when I shut them in.
SCRAPS - I have seen some pretty amazing creations from items of the scrap yard. Every thing from chicken coops made from truck toppers to whole barns made from old pallets. One man’s garbage is another man’s treasure, and this is so true. Look around for things that will work, things that are cheap or free that you can set in place to better shelter your animals. I always look online at sites like online garages sales or kijiji for free or cheap wood and metal before buying it full price, you never know what people are willing to throw away.
LUMBER - We all know how expensive lumber is, if you are just starting out homesteading and you see the prices in the big retail stores and feel defeated don’t! There are many ways to get the wood and supplies you need for buildings on your farm. Look into liquidation stores in your area you can find doors, windows, flooring and yes wood pallets at a fraction of the cost. Look for construction companies that need to sell off the access for cheap to get rid of it, or on places like kijij. Find someone who has a wood mill on their property and make a deal with them. There are so many ways to find your lumber for cheaper.
Now lets get into that cheap fencing- just like the above mentioned, fencing does not need to be bought brand new. In fact, there are tons of web sites and farmers around wanting to get rid of scraps that could be used for farming. Use the auctions around you for a fair deal on gridded paneling, or iron rods, pallets, lumber, metal pipe, if you’re good with a welder make your own panels. There are many different ideas and ways to fence in an animal and all these ways have the same purpose, to keep the animals in it from getting out and the predators on the outside from getting in. Research other homesteaders and heritage farmers to see what ways they used, and try some out, I know farmers that can keep sheep in barbed wire fencing, mine I have to keep in a fort knox situation as they seem to be the escape artists of the country. Zip ties, rebar and panels have been my best friends in setting up fence especially for fencing that can easily be taken down and moved. Rebar can be pushed down in the ground when it is wet or pounded down easy with a sludgehammer, then I can hold the panel to the rebar with zip ties making it a fence. As of yet no sheep, duck, rabbit or chicken has been able to break through and nothing can get in.
Farming is about gaining trust with those in your community and it is a learning process. Don’t be afraid to ask for help and learn things from others, most if not everyone had to start from scratch in learning new techniques and it has been my experience that they want to share that knowledge with others. The worst someone can tell you is no, don’t let it get you down if that happens, continue on. Do what is best for you and for your animals. While building these shelters and fences, remember not only how it will be easy for your animal to live in it, but build them so that you have easy access in and out of the fencing and shelters. No one wants to crawl a fence every day. Make sure you incorporate proper gates and alley ways so it makes it easier on everyone.
